This invention relates generally to rotary milking parlors and more particularly to milker unit detachers for use in rotary milking parlors.
Rotary milking parlors include a rotating platform having a number of stalls in which cows are milked as the platform rotates. The platform must rotate constantly to be efficient, so the speed of rotation must be slow enough to permit cows to step safely from a stationary platform to the rotating platform.
The benefit of such an arrangement is that dairy operators are able to stand in a single location to prepare cows for milking and attach milker units to the cows. This reduces operator fatigue and improves throughput efficiency. Nonetheless, throughput in a rotary milking parlor is increased to a level at which operator fatigue and turnover remain significant issues.
One complication of such a system is the placement and storage of milker units. In stationary stall dairies, milker units can be placed at the rear or side of the stalls while the cows enter and egress from the opposite side. Operators stand near the milker unit side and attach them to the cows for milking. This is not possible in a rotary milking parlor because cows must enter and egress at the outer perimeter of the rotating platform, which is the location where milker units are positioned for access by the dairy operator.
In prior systems, the milker units were positioned to the side of each stall and then moved under the cow from the side or rear and attached by the operator. The milker units included automatic detachers that disconnected the milker unit when the platform had rotated to the location of a stationary cow exit platform.
Prior to being connected to the cows, the milker units simply hung at the ends of the stalls by the chain or rope that was connected to a stationary member of the stall that extended outwardly from the rotating platform. With such an arrangement, the milker units were exposed to being kicked as the cows entered the stalls.
While connected to the cows, the milker units had support chains or ropes that contacted the legs of the cows. The chains or ropes across the backs of the cows"" legs caused cows to kick, which could disconnect the milker unit or cause damage to the milker unit and related detachers.
Further, the outwardly extending stall member arm served to support the milker unit away from the stall entrance, which caused the operator to stand away from the platform to retrieve the milker unit and then move it to a milking position between the cows"" legs for attachment to the teats. This required extra movement by the operator and partially defeated the convenience of having a rotary milking parlor. Even this amount of effort by operators significantly affected operator fatigue and turnover.
In addition, supporting the milker unit out and away from the rotating platform exposed the milker units and their supporting hoses, ropes, and chains to striking the stationary platforms that surround the rotating platforms.
To minimize exposure to the stationary platform, the ends of stationary platforms were significantly tapered to provide a guide for supporting chains or ropes into the narrow gap between the rotating and stationary platforms. This arrangement prevented chains and ropes from hanging up on the stationery platform, but exposed dairy operators to the possibility of walking or falling into the large taper area, which could cause serious injury.
There is needed a rotary milking parlor detacher that safely guides milker units to and from the milking position without requiring unnecessary effort by the dairy operator. There also is needed a rotary milking parlor detacher that protects milker units and supporting chains from cows as they enter and egress the milking stalls.
The present invention is directed to a milker unit detacher for use in rotary milking parlors that safely guides milker units to and from a milking position and minimizes movement by the dairy operator and affords better ergonomics.
The present invention includes a housing on a rotary platform, a retracting mechanism joined to the housing, a support arm operatively joined to the housing for movement between a milking position and a storage position, and a detacher chain having a first end joined to the retracting mechanism and a second end for connection to a milker unit, the detacher chain operatively joined to the support arm for movement between a retracted position and an extended position, the detacher chain having sufficient length to suspend a milker unit below the elevation of the rotating platform when in the storage position.
Such a unit protects the detacher chain from tangling as cows enter and egress milking stalls, stores milker units in a safe location to avoid hanging up on stationary platforms, moves milker units between storage and milking positions without striking the platform, and presents the milker unit to operators at a convenient and ergonomically efficient position. Movement of the detacher mechanism can be synchronized with the movement of the rotating platform.